Joseph Joachim to Franz Liszt, Düsseldorf, August 2, 1856

Frau Schumann has entrusted me with the solemn duty of informing her friends of the shocking loss that has struck her; to tell them of Schumann’s passing. One of my first thoughts was that you, who already in the early days stood in artistic and friendly relations with the now-deceased master would receive the news with particular sympathy — for even though you were destined, by external as well as internal experience, to take different paths in life — even though you had mutually expressed this — still I am certain that no one possesses the power and the will to understand more clearly, or to sense more beautifully, the full worth of the man who has sadly been taken from us than you in this solemn moment.

You will surely be sorry that you were not able, as I was, to pay your last respects to the master’s remains when he was interred on Thursday in Bonn. It would not have been in keeping with the spirit of the composer, who preferred to wrap himself in the most personal, inward, sacred thoughts, to advertise the day of his burial for his friends and admirers in the papers; yet, many sympathizers followed his body to Bonn. It was carried to its resting place by artists and art-lovers, and buried near the earthly remains of Niebuhr and Schlegel.

Frau Schumann returned here yesterday; the closeness of her family and of Brahms, whom Schumann loved as a son, comforts the noble woman, who even in her deepest grief is to me a noble example of strength and resignation. I will probably stay a few more days here in Düsseldorf, and count on receiving soon the letter from you that Dr. Pohl promised, for which I thank you in advance, and which I hope to answer directly.